Improvement in seam-covering stays for boots and shoes



HIIIIIIIIIIIII HUIIIIIIIIII HIIIIIIIIIIIII llllllllllllllll d Inn-u J IIIII N. PETERS. PHOTOL|TMOGHAPNER. WASHINGTON. o. c.

UNITED ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES D. IVOOD, OF LINCOLN, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEAM-COl/ERING STAYS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,706, dated May 20, 1879-; application filed March 29, 1879.

- To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES D. Woon,-of Lincoln, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain Improvements in Seam-Covering Stays for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement on the stay patented to A. Seaver, September 24, 1878, No. 208,339, which consists, essentially, of a leather stay lined with cloth, the cloth being cemented to the leather and arranged to cover one side thereof, so that the stitches that connect the stay to the boot or shoe shall necessarily pass through the cloth. It is desirable in a stay of this class that the cloth be concealed at the edges of the stay and protected from raveling, and also that the edges of the stay be finished so as to correspond in color and luster to the outer side of the stay. These results are effected in the stay represented in said patent by foldingin the leather and its lining at both edges, so as to conceal the cloth and cause the dressed side of the leather to extend around the edges of the stay. I have found that a cloth-lined stay can be made sufiiciently strong by dispensing with the folding and making-the leather portion of only a single flat layer or thickness, so that not only is less material required than for a folded stay, but the stay produced is less bulky, and therefore neater in appearance.

My invention consists in certain improvements whereby a cloth-lined stay is produced,

in which the leather is not folded, but is caused to practically conceal the edges of the cloth lining, and present edges resembling in color and finish the outer surface of the leather, the

cloth being suitably protected from ravelin g,

all of which I will now proceed to describe.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figures 1 and 2 represent enlarged cross-sections of a cloth-lined leather stay before and after completion, said Fig. 2 representing a stay completed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 3 repre sents a tool used in finishing the stay.

In carrying out my invention, I take a strip, a, of leather, suitable for a stay, said strip being about equal in width to the completed stay, and made up in any desired length by cementing together a number of sections laid end to end, and scarfed at their ends, so as to form a strip of uniform thickness. To the inner side of the strip a, I cement a lining, I), of drilling or other suitable cloth, which lining is narrower than the leather by about onethirty-second of an inch, and is arranged so that the leather will project equally beyond each edge of the cloth, as shown in Fig.1. To prevent the cloth from raveling, it is folded inwardly at its edges, the folded-in portions Z) I) being in contact with and cemented to the leather.

If desired, the cloth may be woven in the form of tape with two selvage-edges, in which case it need not be folded if it is of the proper width.

The strip thus prepared presents theraw leather at its edges, and when viewed edgewise the cloth is visible.

I now apply a suitable coloring compound to the edges of the leather, to give them the same color as the outer surface, and then subject said edges to the action of a tool, which will at once burnish them and form inwardlyprojecting burrs c c, of sufficient size to cover, or nearly cover, the edges of the cloth, said burrs being formed entirely on the portions of the leather which project outside of the cloth. This operation practically thickens the leather at its edges, so that it will conceal the cloth, and impart to the thickened edges a finish and luster resembling that of the outer surface of the leather.

A stay is thus produced which has a very neat and tasteful appearance, and is made at less expense than a folded stay without being any less durable or serviceable.

I call this a fiat stay to distinguish it from one in which the leather is folded.

I prefer to burnish and thicken the edges of the leather by means of a grooved steel burnishing-wheel, d, the edge of the leather being inserted in the groove 01', and the wheel being rapidly rotated.

"he inner face of the groove does the burnishing, and may be of any desired shape.

The opposite sides of the groove act as flanges In testimony whereof I have signed inyname or guides to keep the leather in place. to this specification in the presence of two sub- 1 olairnscribing itnesses.

A flat stay composed of a lining-strip of 4 cloth and a flat outer strip of leather wider CHARLES D. WOOD. than the cloth, cemented to the cloth so as to project equally beyond the same at both edges, Vitnesses 7 and burnished and burred at its projecting GEO. W. PIERCE, edges, so as to conceal the edges of the cloth, 0. F. BROWN. substantially as described. 

